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Photo of Michiel Op de Beeck

Michiel Op de Beeck

Researcher

Photo of Michiel Op de Beeck

Regulation of fungal decomposition at single-cell level

Author

  • Michiel Op De Beeck
  • Carl Troein
  • Syahril Siregar
  • Luigi Gentile
  • Giuseppe Abbondanza
  • Carsten Peterson
  • Per Persson
  • Anders Tunlid

Summary, in English

Filamentous fungi play a key role as decomposers in Earth’s nutrient cycles. In soils, substrates are heterogeneously distributed in microenvironments. Hence, individual hyphae of a mycelium may experience very different environmental conditions simultaneously. In the current work, we investigated how fungi cope with local environmental variations at single-cell level. We developed a method based on infrared spectroscopy that allows the direct, in-situ chemical imaging of the decomposition activity of individual hyphal tips. Colonies of the ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycete Paxillus involutus were grown on liquid media, while parts of colonies were allowed to colonize lignin patches. Oxidative decomposition of lignin by individual hyphae growing under different conditions was followed for a period of seven days. We identified two sub-populations of hyphal tips: one with low decomposition activity and one with much higher activity. Active cells secreted more extracellular polymeric substances and oxidized lignin more strongly. The ratio of active to inactive hyphae strongly depended on the environmental conditions in lignin patches, but was further mediated by the decomposition activity of entire mycelia. Phenotypic heterogeneity occurring between genetically identical hyphal tips may be an important strategy for filamentous fungi to cope with heterogeneous and constantly changing soil environments.

Department/s

  • MEMEG
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Computational Biology and Biological Physics - Undergoing reorganization
  • Synchrotron Radiation Research
  • NanoLund: Center for Nanoscience
  • Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC)

Publishing year

2020-04

Language

English

Pages

896-905

Publication/Series

ISME Journal

Volume

14

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Topic

  • Microbiology
  • Other Physics Topics

Status

Published

Project

  • MICCS - Molecular Interactions Controlling soil Carbon Sequestration

Research group

  • Microbial Ecology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1751-7362